Candy Crush Saga Tips & Guide (Part 2!)

You Candyholics are back for more?! Okay, let’s get this started. If you’re late to the party, you should start at part 1!

(Don’t) Take a Hint

If the game thinks you’re stuck because you haven’t made a move in a while, it will highlight a match you can make. These hints are almost always terrible, and unless you’re super stuck with no moves, they aren’t worth taking. I’ve seen it want me to destroy a 5-candy match with a 3-match instead, or have me focusing on the completely wrong area of the level.

Whenever I get one of these hints, I always say to myself “OK, that’s specifically an area I should not be focusing on.” Occasionally the hint gets it right, but it’s so rare it’s silly.

Keep on Rollin’

The starting state of the board is more or less randomized. The layout is always the same, and the objectives are almost always in the same spots, but what candies are where tend to vary. On some Candy Crush Saga levels, where you have only a few moves, the starting layout can be critical. As long as you haven’t moved yet, you can back out of the level and go back in again without losing a life.

You can back out of a level by tapping the yellow arrow icon in the lower left corner of the screen, and then tapping the red “door” button. Or, on Android devices, just press the “back” button which is always the leftmost button at the bottom of the screen.

If you do this repeatedly, you can get starting candy positions that are advantageous. For instance, you might get to start with your candy aligned in such a way that you immediately can make a 5 in a row match and get a color bomb right from the start. This can make a big difference if you’ve only got a couple of dozen moves to complete a rather complex objective.

This doesn’t work on the version on the Facebook website. You can’t roll levels on Facebook, I’ve been told. You also can’t do this on timed levels, since they start as soon as you load the level. And I’ll repeat, you can’t back out once you’ve made a move.

Stay a Step Ahead

When you’re up against a level that has a very low move count, you’ve got to plan your moves carefully. I always ask myself if the move I’m about to make is going to help me win the level. If not, is it setting me up for a move that will help me win? If the answer is no to both of these, the thing I’m considering is probably a bad move.

On these low move-count levels, you really can’t afford to waste 2 or 3 moves on things that don’t clear jelly or move ingredients, or whatever the goal is. Chances are pretty good that you’ll lose the level if this happens.

Get a Life (or 5)!

Any time you fail an objective, the game takes away one of your lives. You start with 5 and these replenish over time, with one new one every half hour or so. You can also get some bonus lives by connecting with Facebook, or by harassing your friends.

No more lives?! ARGH!

Candy Crush Saga is at times unfair, and is totally random. Therefore, you are almost guaranteed to lose occasionally. (I’m looking at you, Lemonade Lake!) Don’t feel bad, sometimes the deck is just not stacked in your favor. In fact, the game’s creators hope you lose! This is how they make money and spread the game – when you want just one more try at a particular level. That’s why the game starts out easy (to hook you) and then gets challenging quickly. If you get your friends playing or fork over some cash, they achieved their goal.

Several people have noted that it’s possible to “cheat” the timer system by taking your device offline (ie, signing out of the Facebook account you’re using on your phone) and then setting your clock forward. Setting your device’s clock forward can sometimes cause unintended side effects (like alarms and reminders going off early) so one sneaky reader suggested setting your clock back a month or so, and then setting it forward whenever you need more lives.

Personally, since I tend to roll my levels a lot before playing them, I don’t tend to run out of lives before I run out of play time or levels.

Tickets? We don’t need no stinking tickets!

Periodically when you’ve cleared an entire area, you’ll need 3 tickets in order to proceed. The first one of these ticket checkpoints is at level 35 – in order to get to level 36 you’ll need a set of tickets. You can get these by bugging your friends, who will have to at least load the game in order to give you one.

The button for quests used to be really hidden. Since then, they’ve made it rather obvious!

However, you can also get tickets by playing Mystery Quests. This option is at the bottom of the “You need a ticket” message. It used to be pretty hidden, but it’s there!